St. Patrick's Day

What's Schoolin'?

Children can color in Ireland on a map of the World or Europe.  They can also label and color a detailed map of Ireland.

Here are some beautiful coloring pages:
http://www.roman-catholic-catechism.com/saint-patrick-history-2.html

Here is a short biography:
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=89

History of the holiday (not St. Patrick biography):
http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day

This has a ton of St. Patrick ideas and many are Montessori-ish:
http://www.mamaofmanyblessings.com/2013/02/50-st-patricks-day-ideas.html

For Holy cards you can image google St. Patrick Holy cards and find a zillion.

What's Cookin'?

Either baked potatoes, roasted potatoes, potato soup, or fried potatoes would fit perfectly.

This Irish Potato Candy looks like a mix between our butter frosting and cream cheese frosting.  Mmmm.  Then it's rolled in cinnamon (I'm thinking maybe a few chocolate ones too?):
http://www.semihomemademom.com/2013/02/irish-potato-candy.html

This is the Catholic Cuisine page for St. Patrick.  I've linked the ones I plan on doing below (maybe not all this year!):
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/search/label/St.%20Patrick

Cucumber snake snack:
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2012/03/ssss-snack-for-st-patricks-day.html

This veggie flag looks appealing:
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2011/03/irish-flag-veggie-tray.html

Irish Potato Pancakes (good for St. Brigid also):
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2011/01/irish-potato-pancakes.html

Here is an idea for sweet shamrock pretzels.  I know I have a recipe for soft pretzels around here somewhere...  Snake shapes would work too.
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2010/03/sweet-shamrock-pretzels.html

Shamrock Toasties (note: green bell pepper, cheese, bread slices):
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2010/03/shamrock-toasties.html

One thing that I've missed is hard pretzels.  They used to be such an easy snack for the kids!  I can't find any anywhere that we can eat.  I may be able to adapt this idea using the greens from Sunspire candies and maybe make flat truffles or something like that:
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2012/03/st-patricks-shamrock-pretzel-treats.html

This Peppermint Candy Shake is awesome.  [Note to self:  get vanilla ice cream ahead of time!] Making homemade peppermint patties is tedious (I usually only make them for birthday requests for dc) so here is what I'm thinking... Chop up some Enjoy Life chocolate chips in the mini-chopper.  Instead of the 1/2 cup peppermint patties listed in the recipe we could put in the chopped chocolate chips, 2 drops of peppermint oil (I love the one from Nature's Sunshine and 2 drops is what I use in a mild batch of peppermint patties), and either honey or powdered rapadura (powdered in the blender so it's not as crunchy).  Those are the main ingredients in peppermint patties anyway :).
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/search/label/St.%20Patrick?updated-max=2011-01-30T18:47:00-08:00&max-results=20&start=13&by-date=false

Irish Soda Bread:

I thought I would offer an Irish Soda Bread as part of my new home bakery this upcoming week in honor of St. Patrick.  Here are some possibilities:

Easy Irish Soda Bread (uses baking powder so not traditional version):
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Easy-Irish-Soda-Bread (I could swap out buttermilk for the sour cream)

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Most-Popular-Irish-Soda-Bread (also uses baking powder) :
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Most-Popular-Irish-Soda-Bread

Here is a great website about traditional Irish Soda Bread:
http://www.sodabread.info/index.htm

This one from Catholic Cuisine looks pretty identical.  I'm thinking of trying 3 C white whole wheat with 2 C buttermilk.  Set it out to ferment already in the pan and then pop it in the oven.
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2013/02/traditional-irish-soda-bread.html

I ended up calling my dear friend and got a recipe from her that worked great (thanks, P.!!).  It was so good.  Right now I'm fiddling with a soaked white whole wheat version.